Have you read "Uncle Tom's Cabin"?

[Brynach]

Originally Posted by Cida

I don't known if people read it these days, but I was just re-reading it, as a copy fell into my lap.

You probably know that it was the best-selling novel of the entire 19th century. It's really an extraordinary achievement as a novel - on top of the fact that it's a rare example of a novel that had major impact in the real world. As I was reading it this time, I was struck at how much of the physical cruelty is specified, but she uses polite euphemisms to gloss over the very major issue of masters' sex with slaves (which you might not immediately notice), which drove the mistresses crazy.

I haven't. If it were to "fall into my lap" also, I would definitely crack it and give it a go for historical perspective. It was a very important piece of media in it's contemporary day.

[Cida]

Originally Posted by Pat Answers

I read it 6 years ago when I got into a kick to read a lot of the classics I'd never read growing up. At one time I had a list of formerly "banned" books and it was on the list. I thought it an interesting read. I've read a lot of "plantation" books, including 11 of Eugenia Price's books, and I found UTCabin a lot more realistic to read (not that I'd ever really know). I was surprised to read several euphemisms which originated from this book, like an evil person referred to as Simon Legree, which is a real person in the book. (That is what euphemism means, isn't it?) Worth the time to read, just as a historical reference I guess.

Actually, no, that's not what a euphemism is. A euphemism is when you use a nicer word or phrase instead of the more unpleasant one. For instance, "sanitation engineer" instead of "garbage collector," "undocumented immigrant" instead of "illegal alien," "passed" instead of "died," "full-figured" instead of "fat."

I'm not sure about "Simon Degree" - I think that might be termed an eponym.

I think it's the only "plantation" book I've read.